Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament Defends Anti-Donald Trump Poster

Earlier this week, Pearl Jam got into trouble for a concert poster that consisted of a drawing of President Donald Trump's dead body being picked at by a bald eagle in front of a burning White House. Bassist Jeff Ament, who designed the poster, defended his work.

“The role of artists is to make people think and feel, and the current administration has us thinking and feeling,” Ament said, as reported by Consequence of Sound. “I was the sole conceptualist of this poster, and I welcome all interpretations and discourse. Love, from the First Amendment, Jeff Ament.”

The poster was created for this past Monday's concert in Missoula, Mont., which was a fundraiser for Democratic senator Jon Tester's re-election campaign. Ament's sketch and notes, from which Bobby Draws Skullz created the final version, said that he wanted to see “Evel Knievel on a tractor over the cesspool below. ... You know the deal. We’re at a tipping point and it’s time for action. Jon Tester is the real deal and nobody cares more about our country, and especially Montana.”

Tester's challenger, Matt Rosendale, condemned the poster, calling it "disgusting and reprehensible. ... It's time for Jon Tester to denounce this act of violence and blatant display of extremism!"

Pearl Jam's brief tour of the U.S., which began last week with their first shows in their hometown of Seattle in five years, continues tonight at Chicago's Wrigley Field, with a second show on Monday.